More Logo Connection Questions

[rock55choc]

So Okay fellas , Im sure you are noticing a theme here in my posts by now , but I am kinda on a kick here. I just ran down the list of the 119 NCAA D1A football squads and noticed about 8 logo questions I have. Thanks for any help you can offer.

VA TECH HOKIES - why do they use a gobbler ??

PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS - what is the meaning of the word "Nittany"??

SYRACUSE ORANGE - this is the first year I have not seen them referred to as Orangemen. What gives ??

ARIZONA WILDCATS - whats the story as to why they paint the phrase "Bear Down" on the gridiron??

NAVY MIDSHIPMEN - whats the correlation with using a ram in their logos ??

STANFORD CARDINAL - Why is it singular ??

NORTH TEXAS MEAN GREEN - I have also heard them referenced as the Eagles. Whats the story with the usage of Mean Green??

KENT STATE GOLD FLASHES - how do you get a fierce looking bird depicted in a logo for Golden Flashes ??

Those are my questions I have. Once again , thanks for any help you could offer. Dont worry , Ive used up this topic , no more posts on logo correlations ... lol

[Survival79]

PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS - what is the meaning of the word "Nittany"??

Nittany Lion Legend

Penn State's athletic symbol, chosen by the student body in 1906, is the mountain lion which once roamed central Pennsylvania. H.D. "Joe" Mason, a member of the Class of 1907, conducted a one-man campaign to choose a school mascot after seeing the Princeton tiger on a trip with the Penn State baseball team to that New Jersey campus. A student publication sponsored the campaign to select a mascot and Penn State is believed to be the first college to adopt the lion as a mascot.

Since Penn State is located in the Nittany Valley at the foot of Mount Nittany, the lion was designated as a Nittany Lion. In regional folklore, Nittany (or Nita-Nee) was a valorous Indian princess in whose honor the Great Spirit caused Mount Nittany to be formed. A later namesake, daughter of chief O-Ko-Cho, who lived near the mouth of Penn's Creek, fell in love with Malachi Boyer, a trader. The tearful maiden and her lost lover became legend and her name was given to the stately mountain.

NAVY MIDSHIPMEN - whats the correlation with using a ram in their logos ??

What is the history of Bill the Goat, the Naval Academy's mascot?

Over 200 years ago, livestock was kept aboard some sea-going naval vessels to provide sailors with food, milk, eggs and, in some cases, pets. One legend about the first association of the goat with Navy football tells of a pet goat who died at sea while on board a Navy ship. The affection for the goat was such that the officers decided to save the skin of the animal and have it mounted upon arrival in port. Two young officers were entrusted with the skin when the ship docked in Baltimore. On the way to the taxidermist, the ensigns dropped in on their alma mater where a football game was in progress. With them -- for lack of a suitable storage place -- was the goat skin. While watching the first half of the game, one of the officers came up with an idea for some half-time entertainment. When half-time arrived, he romped up and down the sidelines cloaked with the goat skin barely covering his blue uniform. These antics brought howls of laughter from the midshipmen, and the Navy victory that day was attributed to the spirit of the late, lamented goat. It was not until 1893, however, that a live goat made his debut as a mascot at the fourth Army-Navy game. Finally, during the first service match of the 20th Century, the Naval Academy's beloved mascot was given a name. On the return trip to the Naval Academy after Annapolis' triumph over West Point, the goat was led on a victory lap through the train and did not leave the mids until they reached Baltimore. It was then that the goat was dubbed the now celebrated name "Bill." The name was borrowed from a pet goat kept by Commander Colby M. Chester, Commandant of Midshipmen from 1891-1894 and the first president of the Naval Academy Athletic Association.

[FUNKAFIED]

Syracuse has always been the Orangemen until this year. Apparently there's an orange crop in Western New York and that's where the original name came from. Syracuse has been nicknamed the Orange for so long, they just shortened it from now on. So instead of Orangemen, representing the orange growers, they're just called the Orange, for the color.

[OMMF]

So Okay fellas , Im sure you are noticing a theme here in my posts by now , but I am kinda on a kick here. I just ran down the list of the 119 NCAA D1A football squads and noticed about 8 logo questions I have. Thanks for any help you can offer.

STANFORD CARDINAL - Why is it singular ??

It references the color, not the bird.

[DrBear]

The "Bear Down" painting was covered in this post

About halfway down on the page, look for my post

[AmazinLary]

Just trying to piggy-back on the questions, why does Fresno State have a green and yellow "V" on the back of their helmets?

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Syracuse has always been the Orangemen until this year. Apparently there's an orange crop in Western New York and that's where the original name came from. Syracuse has been nicknamed the Orange for so long, they just shortened it from now on. So instead of Orangemen, representing the orange growers, they're just called the Orange, for the color.

That's not right at all. I'm from upstate New York, and believe me, there aren't any oranges growing there any time soon.

This is the second year they've been the Orange. It's an effort to rebrand the university's athletic program and make it more inclusive. Why? I have no idea.

Syracuse's mascot used to be the the Indian Saltine Warrior, referencing the salt industry that brought Syracuse and much of Central New York to prominence. My understanding had always been that Orangemen was a less than culturally sensitive descriptor in the same vein as Redmen or the Redskins. But I could be wrong.

[slapshot]

Just trying to piggy-back on the questions, why does Fresno State have a green and yellow "V" on the back of their helmets?

The V is to represent the Valley region where the school is located. I don't remember if it's Napa Valley, San Fernando Valley, whatever, but the story is listed on the Fresno State website.

[AmazinLary]

Thanks.

[leopard88]

Just trying to piggy-back on the questions, why does Fresno State have a green and yellow "V" on the back of their helmets?

The V is to represent the Valley region where the school is located. I don't remember if it's Napa Valley, San Fernando Valley, whatever, but the story is listed on the Fresno State website.

Neither. I'm not sure if it is for the San Joaquin Valley or the larger Central Valley (of the which the San Joaquin is a smaller part), but it is one of those two. Maybe I should just actually check the Fresno State website as you mentioned.

Napa Valley -- wine country near San Francisco

San Fernando Valley -- suburbs of Los Angeles (birthplace of the"Valley Girl")

[black_gold_capone]

if memory serves me correct, the Mean Green are named after Mean Joe Green who attended college there

[bhambruiser]

WHAT'S A HOKIE?

The answer leads all the way back to 1896 when Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College changed its name to Virginia Polytechnic Institute. With the change came the necessity for writing a new cheer and a contest for such a purpose was held by the student body.

Senior O.M. Stull won first prize for his "Hokie" yell which is still used today. Later, when asked if "Hokie" had any special meaning, Stull explained the word was solely the product of his imagination and was used only as an attention-getter for his yell. It soon became a nickname for all Tech teams and for those people loyal to Tech athletics.

The official university school colors - Chicago Maroon and Burnt Orange - also were introduced in 1896. The colors were chosen by a committee because they made a 'unique combination' not worn elsewhere at the time.

The official definition of "hokie" is "a loyal Virginia Tech Fan".

The HokieBird The bird is a "HokieBird" which has evolved from a turkey.

Virginia Tech teams were once called the "gobblers"!

So someone just made up the Va Tech nickname- how funny is that?

[leopard88]

So someone just made up the Va Tech nickname- how funny is that?

That is sort of true with Georgetown as well (or at least the school also adopted a phrase used by someone in a cheer).

From the Georgetown website:

What is a Hoya?

Many years ago, when all Georgetown students were required to study Greek and Latin, the University's teams were nicknamed "The Stonewalls." It is suggested that a student, using Greek and Latin terms, started the cheer "Hoya Saxa!", which translates into "What Rocks!" The name proved popular and the term "Hoyas" was eventually adopted for all Georgetown teams.

_____________________________________

I don't know Latin or Greek, so I don't which word in the phrase "Hoya Saxa" means "what" and which means "rocks". Is it possible that the literal translation is the Georgetown Whats?

[gordie_delini]

Hoya Saxa is Latin - saxa means rock, but in 6 years of studying the language of Latin, I have NEVER come across the word "hoya" so it could be one of those latin-greek crossovers that's really stupid and makes no sense. Anyway, saxa means rock in latin, so there you go. a proper Latin translation of "What Rocks" would be "Qui Saxa", not Hoya Saxa.

[leopard88]

So whether it is proper Latin or otherwise, the translation in accordance with the Georgetown version of the story is the Georgetown Whats. Some enterprising student section should try to have some fun with that.

[bhambruiser]

stone cold could have been their mascot:

remember this:

[rock55choc]

As for as the origin of the Orange nickname with Syracuse , I had always thought that since Syracuse is a Dutch name , that Orange was a reference to the House of Orange , which was the governing body in Holland. Anyone else ever thought that way ??

[TruColor]

if memory serves me correct, the Mean Green are named after Mean Joe Green who attended college there

Nope. It's the other way around. Joe Greene became "Mean Joe Greene" because he played on the "Mean Green".

[gordie_delini]

As for as the origin of the Orange nickname with Syracuse , I had always thought that since Syracuse is a Dutch name , that Orange was a reference to the House of Orange , which was the governing body in Holland. Anyone else ever thought that way ??

Syracuse was actually originally a Greek city-state, and island just southwest of the mainland.

[leopard88]

As for as the origin of the Orange nickname with Syracuse , I had always thought that since Syracuse is a Dutch name , that Orange was a reference to the House of Orange , which was the governing body in Holland.  Anyone else ever thought that way ??

From the Syracuse website (Syracuse Athletics):

And SU is the only collegiate or professional sports organization with the nickname of ?The Orange??a distinction dating back to 1890, when both the moniker and the color were adopted by the alumni, faculty and student body.

What this doesn't say is WHY the alumni, faculty and student body selected the name.